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A 13.2: K ~ -- Nry K 67x Cultural Resource Overview Klamath National Forest, California James A. McDonald USDA-Forest Service Klamath National Forest 6-02Ma . ., Doca-I..S. A 13.2:K 67x McDonald, James A. Cultural resource overview Klamath Natl I ~111111111IIIII J3 5138 11 000657291111111111111111111 3 Management Summary This report synthesizes information on the Klamath National Forest area environment and culture history, discusses the significance of the Forest's cultural resources, and makes recommendations for managing those resources. This report is one of a series of reports which will also provide descriptive summaries of Forest cultural resources, predict their distribution, and evaluate the effects of Forest activities on the resources. The Klamath National Forest environment is varied and complex. It includes the Klamath Mountains and Cascades/Modoc Plateau geomorphic provinces. The ruggedness of the Klamath Mountains province and water supply problems in the Cascades/Modoc Plateau province create challenges for those who occupy and use them. Variations in elevation, soil, moisture, aspect and vegetation create numerous local environments within each province. Little is known about the early prehistory of the Forest, although it is likely that the area was occupied by at least 4000 B.C. By the time European-Americans arrived in the area, it was occupied by people belonging to three cultures: the Karok, Shasta, and Modoc. Differences between these cultures may have originated partly from adaptation to differing local environments. The first European-Americans to enter the Forest area were members of Hudson's Bay Company trapping and exploring expeditions. They appeared in the late 1820's. The Forest area was not permanently settled by non-Indians until gold was discovered in 1850, however. Gold mining was the mainstay of the local economy and society for the next few years, but was eventually eclipsed by agriculture and timber harvesting. Indian cultures suffered heavily as a result of non- Indian settlement, but were not totally destroyed. Most Forest cultural resources are significant in one of three ways. First, some resources are significant because an above average amount of research time has been spent in the investigation of the events, patterns and processes which they represent. These are gold mining and the Modoc War. Second, cultural resources may provide information that answers more general questions which researchers usually ask about any area, such as, "Who lived there?," When did they live there?," What did they do?" Finally, cultural resources may be important because they have a crucial role in on-going cultural systems. Native American sacred places are an example. Among the recommendations which are made to locate, evaluate, protect and interpret Forest cultural resources, the most important are: 1) To proceed with planned conversion of Forest cultural resource files to an automated data base during Fiscal Year 1980, and to use this data base to prepare summaries of cultural resource ...... mwm characteristics and descriptions of their distribution with respect to land management planning units. I 2) To design and implement a Forest sample survey to provide more reliable predictions of cultural resource distribution and to estimate time and funding needs for meeting an objective of inventorying all cultural resources on Forest land by 1990. 3) To develop a Memorandum of Agreement with the State Historic Preservation Officer and the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places to phrase significance criteria in terms specific to the local area. p I, EZI ............................................... V xrpuddV 'IA L6 ....................................... SUO_ 'AAPuammozaX LE ...- -....-----... .. &1o4STH anlnllno 'AI 61 .-.. .D-----IIa.as.. Jo XLio-4sTH -III . ...................... ....... UT- TlVuamuOJTAUS 'II sou ............................................ uoT-4:npolizuj *I als ,I~ ~ ~z,.194:i Ti.8T.fln8Jg Jo j.S'J .e~~~~~~~~ '06i T ......................... salqs J, o 4s~l 30 ; 0:1 pu Joxa SLINHLOD ao ZIS[V r4 _ _ LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Climatic Change Along the Klamath River .................... 115 LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Location Map . .................................116 2. Vicinity Map . ................................ 116 3. Forest Administrative Units . .............................. 117 4. Approximate Tribal Boundaries............................. 118 5. 1850 County Boundariesu n d a r is.... 119 6. 1852 County Boundariesu. ... 120 7. 1880 County Boundaries . .121 8. 1895 On County Boundaries . .122 ii., I. INTRODUCTION The Cultural Resource Overview A cultural resource overview is a study providing data for the develop- ment of a general resource management plan for a geographic region. This overview is one component of a series of cultural resource reports which will provide data for the Klamath National Forest Land Management Plan, which will establish the direction to be followed in the overall management of the Forest. Professional guidelines for overviews are presented in McGimsey and Davis (1977:67, 69, 73-74). Forest Service objectives and standards are contained in Section 2361.22a of the Forest Service Manual. Both sets of guidelines agree that an overview should: 1. Synthesize existing knowledge about cultural resources. 2. Analyze that knowledge to evaluate the significance of cultural resources and to predict their distribution. 3. Describe current and anticipated land management activities and predict their effects on cultural resources. 4. Evaluate the adequacy of existing information about resources and activities, and evaluate the reliability of predictions based on that information. 5. Recommend any additional studies needed to develop reliable predictions. 6. Recommend measures to conserve significant cultural resources. Research activities undertaken for an overview normally consist of the examination of published and unpublished documents, including Forest Service, State, university and museum records, and consultation with knowledgeable informants. If these activities do not provide data adequate to satisfy planning objectives, field studies may be made. Klamath National Forest Overview Objectives In setting specific objectives for this overview, a decision was made to emphasize evaluation of the significance of Forest cultural resources. Cultural resource significance is a topic of much discussion among and between archaeologists and land managers, and it was believed to be the topic most in need of clarification. Evaluation of cultural resource significance was accomplished through a review of previous historic, ethnographic and archaeological research in the Klamath National Forest 1. area, which is summarized in Chapter III, and a synthesis of the results of that research, presented in Chapter IV. The review of research permitted the identification of cultural resource topics which have demonstrated their importance by the amount of research time which has been devoted to their study. The synthesis of research results per- mitted the identification of other topics, called "elements of a culture history" in this overview, which are usually considered important by historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists. Significant cultural resources are those which are associated with important topics (which may be "events," "patterns," or "processes") or which provide information about those topics. In identifying important cultural resource topics, the principle of techno-environmental determinism was applied. Harris (1968:4) describes the principle: "This principle holds that similar technologies applied to similar environments tend to produce similar arrangements of labor in production and distribution, and that these in turn call forth similar kinds of social groupings, which justify and coordinate their activities by means of similar systems of values and beliefs. Translated into research strategy, the principle. assigns priority to the study of the material conditions of sociocultural life, much as the principle of natural selection assigns priority to the study of differential reproductive success." This focus results from the need to concentrate on the study of parti- cular aspects of culture to make efficient use of the time available, the ability of this approach to be integrated with land management planning processes that involve the collection of a wide range of environmental data, and the effectiveness of the principle in explaining human behavior. The focus on technology and environment has led to the inclusion of a description of the Forest environment in Chapter II. In addition to evaluating the significance of Forest cultural resources, this overview also evaluates the adequacy of existing knowledge about them, makes recommendations for additional studies, and recommends measures to conserve significant resources. Evaluations are made in Chapters II, III and IV, and recommendations are discussed in Chapter V. Evaluations and recommendations attempt to integrate the concerns of the archaeological profession and of land management planners. Detailed descriptions of cultural resources, predictions of their dis- tribution, description of current and anticipated land management activities and prediction of their effects on cultural resources are not emphasized in this overview, since the overview is part of a phased series of reports. Descriptive data on Forest cultural resources are contained in files which now include over 600 cultural
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